Another Chance:Epilogue
by Isazu
Summary: A 3 shot of what happened after the end of Another Chance
1. Chapter 1

"Ben is late, and everyone is waiting for you." The boy ignored Mal entirely and snuggle closer to her on their bed hoping that she would let the subject go.

After Mal came back to Auradon from her years abroad, Ben tried to spent as much time as possible with her, he was so adept to this that he even went as far as to cancel trips outside the kingdom if she wasn't able to go with him. However, the second Mal find out about this she asked Ben to stop it. "I missed being able to see you too Ben but what you are doing now is wrong. Remember years ago when you told me that you have responsibilities as a King to your people."

Ben looked at her and knew that she was right, but he wasn't ready to listen to her, trying to distract her he started kissing her and telling her how much he loved her. The couple shared a few steamy kisses before the girl gently pushed Ben telling him that he needed to listen to her because she wasn't going to dropped the subject. "I don't want to be the reason why the King neglects the people of Auradon. You were born to be King, you make my life better because of that, and I want you to make everyone's life as great as I know you can."

Mal was once again the voice of his conscious and with each day that passed Ben knew that he made the right decision when he asked her to be his queen even though they were still young. After their conversation, he went on to have several long meetings with his advisors to arrange the trips he neede to take, and then went back to talk to Mal and told her that he was going to be gone for over a month if he wanted to make up for lost time. The girl put on a brave face and told him that she was going to miss him but that she was glad to see that he was going to pay more attention to his duties.

Long trips started to be normal for the couple and even though it took some time for them to adjust to that both of them knew that it was necessary for Ben's job to do his best to be in contact with the people. Mal used the majority of time to get ready for the wedding and also to set up a program for kids of the Island that were interested in art and other hobbies. Belle helped with some of the bureaucratic aspects of creating programs at schools while Mal was the one with the big ideas.

A year and a half after getting engaged the couple finally got married in a big ceremony in front of not only their friends and family but Royals from all over that came to pay their respect to the new Queen. The memories of that day stayed with Mal for the rest of her life; she remembered waking up and feeling sick about the entire situation. Did they need to get married in front of all those people? Did they need to get married at all? They knew they love each other and their life was okay the way it was.

Soon Evie came to helped her get ready, and Mal told the girl about all of her doubts. "How about we go for a walk so you can clear your mind?"

Both of them made their way towards the woods when they noticed Ben talking to Azis sitting in one of the rocks that were near the entrance of the woods. Evie was ready to say hi to the boys when Mal pulled her to the side making her hide from the boys telling her that it was bad luck for Ben to see her before the wedding. Still, they made their way as close to the boys as possible without them noticing that they were there, sure Ben couldn't see her but that didn't mean Mal didn't want to know what they were talking about.

When she heard how excited Ben was about their wedding she pulled Evie towards the castle and made her friend helped her get ready. When the rest of their friends came to get ready for the ceremony Mal was already dressed and looking forward to meeting Ben at the altar. The fairy started to get anxious about the entire thing, so she decided to do something about it. Sending a text to Ben the girl asked him if he could do her one little favor, the answer came a second later saying yes to whatever she wanted.

Soon everyone in Auradon was informed that the wedding was taking place an hour before schedule. Royals were making their way as fast as they could to the castle; they were all informed that the King had made the decision of changing the time and that he would understand if some of them wouldn't make it in time but they were still invited to the party afterward.

Belle, Adam, and FMG tried to tell him that was he was doing was wrong, but Ben said to them that he didn't care if nobody was there. "The only person I need to be there is Mal and the both of us want to get married as soon as possible. I think we preferred if nobody aside from our families and friends were there, but sadly that is not an option for us."

The wedding was beautiful and everyone that made it in time, the doors closed after Mal arrived, was happy to witness the couple promised to be there for each other for the rest of their lives. If someone ever needed a picture that defined love they could use the one Carlos took of Ben and Mal looking at each other after saying I do. However, the second the party started every single guest, yes even their friends, began to ask the couple when they were planning to start having kids?

At first they would blush and answer that they would welcome kids if they come but for now, they just wanted to celebrate each other. However, by the end of the night, they were tired of the question and the way how everyone seemed to have an opinion about when they should have kids.

Ben promised Mal a beautiful honeymoon, and he delivered. They travel to a secluded house in the middle of the mountains with the most breathtaking view one could imagine. The girl fell in love with the place not only for the fantastic view that she managed to draw while they stayed there but for the privacy that the area allowed them.

Each morning she woke up to Ben kissing her and professing her love for her, and each night they would spent hours making love. Most of the daytime was spent walking around the place, sharing more stories of their lives and talking about their plans for the future. When they spoke of having a family of their own both of them said that they wanted to wait at least for a year before making a decision.

It was important for Mal to get used to being a Queen and see what new responsibilities she was going to have to take on, she also wanted to continue her program with the Island kids and maybe open it for other kids that wanted to join.

King and Queen started traveling together until they notice that Mal was needed at the castle and at the school. Without even noticing it she began to be the parental figure for the Islanders that arrived each semester, she would visit the different campus around the kingdoms giving talks to them about the many possibilities in their future.

The night of their third wedding anniversary Ben announced that he was needed to attend several meetings outside the kingdom, so he was going to be gone for three months and asked Mal to go with him. Three months was too much time for her to leave even though everything was going great with her program she felt a little apprehensive about delegating all the responsibility to another person.

Still, that wasn't the main reason why Mal told Ben that she wasn't going with him this time. Ben tried to argue that she could go and leave someone else in charge but the girl managed to convince him that she was still needed for the new group of islanders that were on probation after getting to Auradon a week ago.

After Ben left, Mal told the Belle the real reason why she stayed behind. "I've been feeling sick for the last couple of weeks, and I went to the doctor a couple of days ago. Belle, I'm pregnant "

The former Queen hugged Mal with force and then step away asking her if she was ok. "Mal this is wonderful,! Oh my god I'm so glad. Why didn't Ben say anything?"

Mal explained to Bel that she was going to tell him on their anniversary night, but when the boy mentioned the trip, she decided to wait. "Can you imagine if I told him? Ben didn't leave my side for almost three months after I moved back here because he missed me, If I told him that I was pregnant he would have canceled everything to stay with me."

Belle told the girl that Ben was not going to take well the fact that she knew about this and didn't tell him, but she also understood why Mal did it. Together they went to the doctor again to do her monthly checkup, and Belle learned that Mal was almost six weeks pregnant so by the time Ben came back she was going to be nearly 20 weeks pregnant.

The first two months and a half of the boy's trip flew by, now and then Ben would try to make Mal come to visit him or he offered to go back, but with the help of his parents the fairy managed to keep him away. However, two weeks before he was due to returned Mal decided to tell him about her pregnancy, she had been hinting that she had a surprise for him in the last couple of calls making the boy wonder what was going on back in Auradon.

Ben kept asking her to tell him; finally, she decided that it was time so she asked him to close his eyes and when he opened them again she had managed to put her phone in a position that showed her growing belly. The king was quiet for the longest time making Mal worry, was he mad that she didn't tell him? or that she was pregnant?.

The answer to her questions came soon when she noticed that the boy was starting to cry and then asking her a million questions. Mal decided to tell him that she found out about the pregnancy after he was gone because she was afraid that he was going to be mad at her. Ben started to go around the room collecting his things while telling Mal that he was going to go back to her that same night.

"Ben you only have a couple of days left on your trip, and then you get to come back home. If you come home early you are going to need to travel again soon; please think about it." He tried to argue that delegations could travel to Auradon to meet him, but in the end, he agreed to stay until the end of his trip but made Mal promised not to use logic with him when he was trying to be with her and his unborn child. The rest of the time Ben would ask her a million question every time they talk and he would call her at least three times a day.

After all the questions and calls Mal decided to come clean about when and how she found out about her pregnancy hoping that Ben would understand why she had lied but things didn't go well. Ben and Mal had a massive fight about it the night before he was supposed to go back home with the boy telling Mal that she had no right to decide to do something like that. The next day Ben learned that he was needed to stay longer due to some problems that were discovered in the constructions he was checking up.

That night he called Mal and informed her about the problem and told her that even though he was mad at her, he was going to call her every night because he wanted his child to listen to his voice. So for the rest of his trip, Ben would call Mal every night, and each time she would answer the call and put the headphones she connected to her phone around her belly without saying a word.

Nonetheless, the second his last meeting finished even though it was past midnight the boy was running to a plane eager to go back home. When he arrived back at Auradon, the boy run into the castle and straight to the master bedroom where Mal was sleeping. He went into the bathroom took a shower and change into his pajamas, after that he went to their bed and hugged Mal from behind making sure to cover her belly with his arms. The girl woke up a little startled not remembering that he was supposed to arrive that morning.

When Mal realized that he was there with his arms around her a couple of tears, escape her eyes, but she didn't make a move to acknowledge his presence. In seconds doubts invaded her, she wasn't sure if Ben wanted to talk to her or not, he was back for the baby not for her and Mal was sure of that.

With all the excitement of getting back home, the King didn't sleep at all on his trip, so he fell asleep giving the girl a chance to get away. Several hours later he woke up and found himself alone in bed, without giving it a second thought he went looking for Mal.

It took him half an hour to find her, but when he did, he noticed how sad she looked and guilt invaded him. Clearing his throat Ben tried to make his presence known to her, but Mal didn't move or acknowledge him at all. A couple of minutes later Belle came into the room saying hello to his son. "I'm so glad you are back Ben. How did everything go on your trip?"

Ben made conversation with his mom but made sure to look at Mal a couple of times to see if the girl was listening, but once again she gave him nothing. At one point Mrs. Potts appeared and asked everyone to please follow her, lunch was served, and King Adam was waiting for everyone to start eating.

Belle took Ben's arm while Mal stood and walked out of the room following Mrs. Potts. His parents talk the entire time they were having lunch mainly about things that happened while he was away and Adam even told some funny stories that at least made Mal smiled. Before dessert was served, the girl seemed to get a little pale and then practically run out of the room.

Adam was behind her in less than a second, when Ben was about to join them Belle took his hand and told him to sit. "There are some aromas that make her sick. I think Mrs. Potts put some raddish on your plate and Mal smelled it, and it made her sick. Don't worry your dad is helping her; they have their routine."

A couple of minutes later Adam came back announcing that Mal was feeling better, but she was now laying down to rest. Ben seemed defeated and decided to talk to his parents about his fight with Mal and listen to what they have to say about the matter. Hours past and Ben realized that he was right to be mad, but he also needed to move on from that, especially after the girl apologized to him.

His parents stayed until it was time for dinner, Belle went up to find Mal, but the girl was already sleeping. Mrs. Potts later told them that Mal had asked for something to eat a couple of hours ago, so they didn't need to worry about her. After saying goodbye to his parents, the boy went to get ready for bed. However, when he got to his room, Mal wasn't there.

Now he was mad; he was allowed not to like what she did, but the fact that Mal was now acting like he was the one that did something to her was making him angry. He was about to go out of the room to go looking for her when the door of the bathroom opened and a pale version of Mal appeared. The girl was feeling worst, and the only thing in her mind was going back to sleep.

"Mal are you ok?" Ben made a move to come near her.

"I feel sick, and I just want to sleep." She avoided him and went to lay down it didn't take her long to fall asleep.

Ben stood looking at her and wonder why every time things were going well there was always something that complicated it.

The next morning Ben woke up to an empty bed again, he sighed and decided that before going to sleep that night he was going to talk with Mal. After getting ready for the day he went down, his breakfast was served, but he noticed a sweet smell coming from the kitchen.

A big smile appeared on his face, he recognized that smell and made his way quickly to the kitchen where he found his wife standing next to the oven getting some trays of cookies out of it while chatting with Mrs. Potts. The older woman noticed Ben but didn't say anything to alert Mal and continue to talk to the girl about how things were going on in her life and Ben took that as an opportunity to know what was on her mind.

"Well I feel better now, but I think Ben is making me sick. I know that sounds awful, but there is something about him that is making me ill, last night went I went to lay in bed the smell from the sheets make me go to the bathroom and today when I woke up and turned towards him it happened again. Aside of that, he is still mad about me not telling him about the baby which I get, and if I didn't feel ill I would apologize again for it, but the thought of being close to him makes my stomach act up. You were right about the smell of cookies making me feel better; maybe I should just sleep here from now on." Ben felt horrible and turned going back to his room.

Making his way there he took all the sheets out of the bed and put them outside the room to take to the laundry room far away from Mal, and he was doing the same with his suitcase and clothes when Mal arrived with a plate of cookies. The first thing that crossed her mind was that Ben was leaving her, he didn't want anything to do with her anymore, and she started to cry her eyes out. Ben noticed her and ran towards her forgetting that his smelled made her sick and hugging her he asked Mal what was wrong?.

Between sobs, the girl told him why she was crying and Ben wanted to kick himself, of course, she would think that if she saw him taking his things out of the room without knowing he heard her conversation with Mrs. Potts. Ben explained everything to Mal, and the girl tried to apologize for saying those things, but he kissed her to quiet her down, soon they were focused on the kiss and feeling a lot better. Suddenly Mal pushed Ben and putting a hand to her mouth run towards the bathroom and Ben remembered why he was taking everything out of their room before the girl started crying. He noticed the plate of cookies on the floor and started eating some of them while taking more of his things from the room.

A paler version of Mal came out of the bathroom moments later, and Ben asked her from a distance if she was ok, she nodded but sat on the bed looking defeated. Ben wanted to lay next to her, but he didn't want to make her sick again, so he kept his distance. Then it came to him, taking her hand he made her stand and together they went into the bathroom, after taking each other's clothes they got in the shower and finally were able to be together without Mal feeling ill.

 **Notes**

So these two are back, thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

It took them two days to finally find that the mix of Ben's shampoo with the detergent and his cologne was what made Mal ill. Ben got rid of all of that and even order that everything was to be washed by hand with soap while Mal was pregnant. He felt horrible about the last thing because it was going to make the washing harder but everyone was happy to pitch in so that Mal felt better.

From that moment on Mal usually woke up to Ben talking to her stomach about various subjects from how the couple met to the places he wanted to show her or him. On the weird occasion, the girl managed to sneak out of bed before Ben started talking to their child he would make a point to spent a least an hour making up for lost time.

When the next appointment came, Ben was the most excited of all the family. He woke up extra early, got ready and also checked what they should expect out of that appointment. The smiled that appeared on his face when he read that their baby could hear him could have brightened any place in the earth for eternity. Mal woke up several hours later and was surprised not to see Ben; however, when she stood from the bed, she noticed the boy reading a book in one of the sofas of their room.

"Hey there. What are you doing?" Ben was startled by Mal's voice but smiled showing her the book and telling her that he was just doing a little research.

"You should get ready Mal we are supposed to be at the doctor in an hour. Sure, we are the King and Queen, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't respect our appointments. " Mal smiled, she was in love with that boy a little more every day.

Adam and Belle were waiting for the couple to accompany them to the doctor but then Ben asked his parents to let them go alone. "This is my first visit there, and I want to go with Mal alone so I can ask all the questions I have."

Even though his parents were disappointed, they agreed to let the couple go alone. Before making their way to the doctor, Mal asked Ben to please let his parents go at least for the sonogram. "We've been together to all my appointments Ben. I understand that you want to share this with me but I don't think is fair to leave them out of it completely. So please can they come?"

Ben wanted to put his foot down and say no, they were the parents, they were the ones that needed to go, but he understood where Mal was coming from when she asked him that. "Ok they can come to the sonogram, but that's it Mal."

The girl smiled brightly at him and went on her way to tell her in-laws that they were welcome to join them. When the doctor put the baby on the screen, everyone teared up a little Ben kissed Mal and told her that their baby was perfect. The doctor asked them if they wanted to know the sex of the baby and the couple looked at each other not sure if they wanted to.

Belle took the lead and asked the doctor to write the information on a piece of paper, and if they decided that they wanted to know, they could read it. Ben looked at her mother and smile; he was sure that his parents were going to try and took a look at the paper the second the doctor gave it to them.

The sonogram ended, and Ben asked the doctor if he could answer a couple of questions for them and he laughed. "Mal told me that you were coming and asked me to give you some extra time before my next patient."

Ben smiled at Mal; the girl looked so proud of herself, and he just wanted to kiss her, in fact, he was planning to do more than that when they were finally back at the castle. His parents excused themselves and told the couple that they were going back to their house. Belle tried to take the envelope with the sex of the baby in it, but Ben stop it making her mom give him the evil eye and his dad laugh. It took the doctor over an hour to answer all of Ben's question, and at some point, Mal started to play with her phone which the boy didn't take offense too because he was aware of the amount of questions he had on his list.

When they finally made it out of the doctor's office, Ben had asked for the man's email so they could stay in contact about some answers that he still felt like he needed to know more. "Do you think he found me annoying? I know I'm the King and people are not going to tell if I'm overstepping?"

Mal turned towards Ben that was looking at her with the same innocent smile he had when she first met him all those years ago, and she had no idea what to tell him. Yes, the boy was a little over the top with his question and Mal could see that the doctor was getting exasperated with him, but she didn't want him to feel bad. "Well, I guess he was taken aback but the number of questions. Also, when he explained some of them, you asked him if he had visual aids so you could understand better."

Ben looked sad now saying how he only wanted to understand what she was feeling and how he could be of help to her and their baby. Mal smiled at him and began to give him little kisses while saying how much she appreciated everything he was doing making the boy feel a lot better.

The months continue to go by, and with each one, a new thing would come. There was one month where the boy started to change one of the libraries, not Belle's because she threatened the boy, so it would only have books about babies and other stages in the kid's life. Soon, Jay, Carlos, and Ben started weekly meetings where they talk about the baby books they were reading. Azis would join in via Skype; he also had a book assigned to him, and all of them had developed a good rhythm they were cross-examining theories and practices. Every end of the month though they would do a type of summary that Ben shared with Mal explaining why he thought some methods would work better for them in the future.

The day Mal celebrate her six months of pregnancy, Ben insisting in commemorating every single month because he wanted the girl to know how much he loved her and how happy he was that they were finally starting a family together, the girl woke up to a lot of noise. Making her way slowly out of the room Mal notice a lot of movement in the palace and wonder what Ben's goal for this month was going to be. The boy usually told her in the celebration what he was planning as a way to soften the blow on his love-driven preparation for the baby; she was still tired of the five-month goal of finding the best baby clothes in all the kingdoms so they would have enough for the baby's first year.

Deciding that it was best for her to wait until the boy told her what the goal for the month was she made her way to the bathroom. However, when she saw the toilet, a groan escaped her, it was baby proof. Mal tried to open the cover without any luck and wonder if that meant she should consider herself a baby too. Annoyed she walked out of the bathroom and got ready for her day, then she went on her way to find her husband so they could talk about him leaving their bathroom alone until the baby was born.

Jay's voice could be heard on the floor below her, and when he finally came into view, Mal saw a quarter of his guards baby prooving the main hall. If things continue at this pace, the castle will look like the inside of a bouncy house by the end of the day. Taking a deep breath, she was getting very good with breathing techniques; Mal made her way to her friend who as usual smiled and hugged her asking her if she was feeling ok. "I'm fine my back hurts a little. Have you seen Ben?"

Jay looked concerned about her back and told her that she should be using the pillow they got her so she could sleep better. Mal nodded forcing a smile on her face and pushed for an answer to her question about her husband's locations in the mess that was now the castle. "Ben went out for an emergency meeting, but I'm here for anything you need."

"Ok, then please could you un-baby proof our bathroom? I want to use it and I can't." Jay blushed and told her that he was going to do that right away and ran up the stairs making some of the guards that were around them looked at him funny. Mal shooked her head and went on her way to the kitchen where Misses Potts was reading a piece of paper smiling. The girl said hello to the older woman who greeted her asking Mal what did she wanted to eat.

Taking advantage of Ben's absence, Mal asked for sweets making Misses Potts laughed. "I have them ready in the oven. I heard Ben leaving and thought you could finally have a treat. I love that boy very much, but he is being a little controlling with this pregnancy, you should be enjoying yourself being able to eat whatever you want."

Mal clapped her hands at the sight of the freshly baked sweets and thanked the woman for being so kind to her. Misses Potts started telling Mal that she had received a letter from her sister saying that they were planning to take a trip to visit Auradon as soon as the baby was born so they could meet the new Princess. A month ago the couple had decided to share the sex of the baby with their closes friends and family, making everyone gushed at the possibility of a little girl with purple hair running around the castle in the future.

"I'm glad they are going to be able to come, I know is really early to think about it but I want the babies first trip to be to their home. That place is always going to be very important for Ben and me, and I want my baby to love it as much as we do." Misses Potts smiled at the girl telling her that she knew the baby was going to love it too. She was about to offer the girl a cupcake when the voice of Jay and Ben could be heard coming toward the kitchen making Mal pout as she gave the rest of the sweets to Misses Potts for her to hide of Ben.

The woman gave Mal a big glass of milk, so the girl had something to mask the flavor of sweets in case Ben kissed her. Ben came into the kitchen saying hello to both of them and asking Mal how was her back doing. The girl told him that it was fine giving Jay a looked that tried to convey that she thought he had a big mouth but the boy just shrugged. "So I had to go to a meeting with the council, there are some problems in one of the provinces near the north. They want me to go there for a couple of days to talk to the people and see what can be done about the problems they are having with their harvest."

Mal nodded, she knew that there were a couple of storms hitting the northern part of Auradon last week but Ben hadn't told her what the consequences for the people were until now. "Ok, well you should go right now. Those poor people I hope you can do something to help them."

"Babe I'm not going. I was just talking to Jay, and we agree that he can go on my behalf so I can stay here with you in case the baby comes early." The boys looked at each other nodding and then at Mal giving her a looked that made it clear that she was crazy for thinking Ben was leaving her side. The girl asked Ben if they could have a private conversation and walked out of the kitchen and into Belle's library, the only place the boy hadn't change in all the castle and the one place Mal used as her safe haven.

Mal started telling Ben that he needed to take care of the problems himself on not send Jay, the boy was about to argue, but she raised her hand stopping him. "We've had this conversation before Ben. I know you love me, and you want to be here taking care of me yourself, but there are a lot of people, including your parents, that can stay with me and help in case something happens. However, there is only one King, and the people of Auradon deserved that you go help them in their time of need."

Ben shook her head telling Mal that he didn't want to leave her side, he knew that the chances of the baby coming early were pretty much non-existent, but he would still worry being away for so many days. The couple continued to talk for more than an hour until Ben finally agreed to visit the province himself as long as Mal would call him the second she felt like the baby could be born early.

The next day they kissed goodbye with Ben looking apprehensive about going away and Mal assuring him that everything was going to be okay. In the amount of time, it took the boy to finally made it to his destination he called Mal three times, by the third one the girl asked him to please stop. "You need to be there for them Ben, open your eyes to their pain and stop making scenarios in your head where you are the only one that can take care of me because that is not true."

Even though it was hard for him to hear Mal talking like that he knew that the girl was right and he told her so. He promised to call her that night and put his phone away taking in her words and telling himself that he should be more aware of the needs of the people of Auradon. By the time he made it to the affected zone his heart had broken, those poor people had lost so much due to the storms. Soon his instinct kicked in, and he started helping them with some chores as he asked some of the council members to take notes about the type of support the people needed with more urgency.

That night the boy felt asleep tired but happy with what was accomplished that day forgetting entirely that he had promised Mal to called her. The fairy started getting worried until she saw on the news all the work that Ben had done in the province and assumed that her beasty boy was just tired from his hectic day. The next day Ben called her early in the morning apologizing, but Mal was quick to tell him that it was fine and soon the conversation turned into the boy telling her about what was going on there. "You were right Mal I've not been acting the way a King should do with his people. I wanted to ask you if you think is ok for me to stay a little longer."

Ben had decided to visit another province on his way back to Mal, and the girl couldn't be happier. Mal had heard a couple of servants talking about how many people in Auradon were commenting on how the King seemed to be missing in action. The girl was sad to hear that as memories of how she felt about the King and Queen when she was living back at the Island came back. She would hate if people thought of Ben that way, he was such a fantastic person who was born to help others and love doing so that he would be destroyed to hear people felt let down by his actions or the lack of them.

In the end, her six months came and went without any issues, and Ben came back for her seven-month celebration. The King love for his people seemed to reenergize, and soon he was asking the girl if she would be ok with him making a couple of trips in the next couple of weeks. "I'll stop a week before the baby is due, I promised, but I think I should take care of some other places before she is here."

The King started taking weekly trips always coming back on the weekends to see his Queen telling her about how the people of Auradon was doing. After Mal's eight-month celebration the boy was glad to hear that Evie had decided to join the fairy so he wouldn't feel the need to cut his trips every week to be with Mal. On the day of Ben's last departure, Evie arrived at the castle ready to help her friend during her last month of the pregnancy. "Can you believe how much our lives have changed? You are about to give birth to the future Queen of Auradon; Azis and I got married last year, Jay is marrying Lonnie in a couple of months, and Carlos and Jane are back together again."

Mal hugged her friend; they didn't get to see each other much, but just like Mal, Evie had found love, and that made everything worth the time they spent apart. Ben called Mal every night asking her how she was feeling and recounting stories about his days and the way he was making an impact in all the places he went and the people he met. Two days before Ben was supposed to be back in Auradon Mal asked her friends if they wanted to join her in a day at the enchanted lake. Together the friends walked towards the lake talking about their plans for the near future, Jay's wedding and how that would be the next time the four of them would be together again.

They stayed there having a great time; Mal took advantage of the lake to swim a little trying to relieve the pain she was having since she had woke up that morning. However, as night came, the girl started to feel her stomach get hard and suddenly a contraction came scaring all of them. Jay picked the girl up cursing the fact that they didn't have a car or bike to bring her back to the castle. Evie helped Mal with her breathing assuring the girl that everything was going to be ok and soon they would be back at the castle.

Carlos started calling Jane asking the girl to please met them so she could drive them to the hospital. When Jane found them the four friends had managed to calm down and were trying to distract Mal with a couple of songs they used to sing with their friends band. On the way to the hospital, Mal asked Jay to call Ben so the boy would know what was happening with her and the baby. Sadly it didn't matter how many times Jay tried Ben's phone it seemed to be turned off, the boy then tried calling other people that went on the trip with the King with the same result.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, the doctor told the group to wait while he examined the girl. "Ben is going to kill us all if we don't manage to tell him that the baby is coming. Jane do you know what can be happening?"

"I know that there was a huge storm moving into the land, maybe that is what is going on now? I'm not sure. Honestly, I'm freaking out because Evie is right, Ben is going to be so mad at us." Just as the girl finished saying that the doctor came out and told them that Mal was not going into labor, but instead she had a case of Braxton hicks contractions.

"I've already told her what to do if it happens again and how she can differentiate between actual contractions and this one. For now, she is just resting you can take her home in a while." Everyone relaxed and went into the room to see how Mal was doing, the girl asked them if they managed to get a hold of Ben, but they said no.

That night she laid in bed with Evie in silence, wondering what would have happened if her baby had decided that it was time to join the world. When Evie asked her if she was ok, Mal couldn't stop the tears that came while telling her friend that she didn't want to be alone when her baby was born. "You were never going to be alone Mal. We were all going to be there, and that kid is never going to be alone either. Aside from having two parents that love her as much as someone can love another person she has aunts and uncles that are waiting to spoiled her non-stop."

"Please don't spoil her, I can already see Ben is going to do everything this baby tells him to do. I don't want to be the only person that is going to say no to her." Evie laughed and nodded but also told Mal that she promised not to spoil the baby too much, but she was going to be her godmother so she would be lying if she said that there was not going to be any spoiling on her part making the fairy laughed. Mal's phone rang breaking the moment, and Ben's name flashed on the screen. Evie excused herself telling Mal that she was going to the kitchen to get something to drink giving the couple a chance to speak privately. Soon the fairy was talking to Ben who was freaking out about the amount of missed calls and was wondering if he had missed the birth of the baby.

Mal assured him that everything was fine and went on to tell him about everything that happened making the boy feel horrible for not being able to answer his phone without intending too. Just as Jane had suspected the storm had managed to bring all communications on its path while it move into land. Luckily it wasn't permanent, and Ben was now making sure that there was a contingency plan so that this wouldn't happen again. Ben told Mal about all the things he had managed to do even with the storm ruining his original plans "Should I go home now?"

"No, you only have one more place to go, and then you'll be here with us. I think Elle can wait for her daddy to be home before arriving". Ben smiled at Mal using the name they had picked for their daughter. Even though they had decided in one, they promised each other to keep it a secret until she was born.

"Well I hope so, I really want to be there with you Mal." Elle started kicking the fairy, and she was sure that her daughter was as excited as she was to hear Ben's voice.

Ben made it home a couple of days later, and he was happy to see that Mal was doing great and having a good time with Evie, Carlos, and Jay. Taking advantage of the presence of the Islanders the King decided to take one last meeting before officially going off the grid until the birth of his daughter, so saying goodbye to everyone he went on to meet the council.

However, when he was in the middle of his presentation, he noticed his cellphone vibrating over the table. Ben tried to ignore it, but he couldn't help feeling anxious about the way that it kept going off, one of the council members noticed that and asked the boy to please answer his phone. All of them were aware of how close Mal's due date was, and even though at first their relationship with the Queen wasn't ideal they had all come to care for the girl.

The King answer and the voice of a very freak out Jay came in full force telling the boy that Mal was in labor. They were out and about on the town when her contractions started, so they made their way to the hospital, and the doctor told them that her water had broke and she was going to give birth at any moment now. Ben managed to explain to the council what was happening before running out of the room on his way to the hospital.

When he got there he found the Islanders in the waiting room not sure of what to do; Jay urged the boy to go inside before he missed the birth of his daughter. A nurse helped Ben get ready and clean as quickly as possible before he made his way to the room where Mal was. It took only a couple of minutes after he arrived for the baby to be born, and the boy could feel his heart growing at the sight of Elle. Years ago when he dreamed of Mal, he would have never imagined that they would end up falling in love and starting a family, but today he couldn't imagine his life any other way.

It took the nurse a couple of minutes to bring baby Elle back, and he spent them laying next to Mal giving her little kisses on her head telling her how much he loved her and how thankful he was to her for giving life to Elle. Mal fell asleep after a couple of minutes, and Ben took that chance to go out and announced the birth of their daughter to the Islanders and his parents that had made their way to the hospital by now. The King also told everyone that Mal was asleep so they should probably go grabbed something to eat while the girl sleep, Carlos asked him if he was joining them but Ben declined he wanted to be there when Mal wake up.

Mal woke up a couple of hours after that, and the nurse brought Elle so Ben and Mal could hold her. The couple couldn't help but cried when they hold their beautiful baby. "I never thought it was possible to love someone as much as I love you Mal but today I was once again proved wrong because I love both of you more today that I could ever have thought before. I promised you right now that I would never let anything or anyone hurt neither of you."

"I love you too Ben, and I know that nothing bad is going to happen as long as we are together." They shared a kissed after that as a way of proving to each other how serious they were about their future together. Mal asked the nurse to please tell their visitors to please excused them, but they were not going to see anyone that day because she was too tired and asked them to please come back tomorrow. When the woman left the room, Ben asked her if she wanted to go to sleep but the girl said no, she just wanted to enjoy those first moments of them being a family alone.

The next day though everyone came to visit them and the couple was happy to see all the people that they call family joined the celebration. Azis, Ryder, and Alexandra arrived later on that day straight from their kingdoms. Also, Cora and Zohu who had come back from visiting her parents just an hour ago joined their friends bringing gifts for Elle and for the first time in years all the friends were together again making Mal cried a little out of pure excitement. Taking advantage of the visit of one of the nurses Azis asked the woman to please take a photo of the group with the baby, and soon the first family portrait was taken, that photo would hang on the babies room from the moment she arrived home and for years to come.

Notes.-

Elle is finally here giving Mal and Ben the family they always wanted to have.


End file.
